Travel Europe in & $4,000*
21 days, 4 countries, 10 cities, 4 pax
This will be my target!
*Excluding all the branded stuff you are planning to get =P
I would think this trip is pretty decent, planned with the thought of the wallet but not compromising on the "standard of living", i.e. decent food and accommodation.
So far, very much on target though some meals are not included but am very sure there will be some savings here and there!
While planning, I classify the major expenses into 4 major components:
1) Air tickets
2) Accommodation
3) Transportation & Attractions
4) Food
1) Air tickets - While ours was free on AirFrance, NB bought his twin a ticket on board Qatar air (with transit) for S$1077.50.
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| Credits to Airfrance |
Tip: Check out the Facebook pages of the various airlines and grab tickets on offer.
Plan early so you get to compare prices between the airlines.
Am sure prices can go even lower!
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| Credits to Airbnb |
2) Accommodation - I've sourced most of my accommodation through Airbnb which I had a pleasant experience during my Perth trip (Read more in the link)
Tip: Once booked, that's not the end. Remember to drop the hosts a reminder before the trip so make sure they are all prepared in welcoming you! What happened to my Venice BnB booking was that the Host rented my booking (which I've paid!) to other tourists less than 1 month ahead of my arrival! Luckily I emailed them beforehand and they cancelled the booking so I get my refund + managed to get another place to stay. Imagine what would have happened if I didn't notify them beforehand. Tsk!
Thankfully Airbnb has the policy of full refund (make sure it's the host who cancels the booking else you'll get penalised) and even gave us extra credits for the next booking of room for use should we only managed to get a more expensive accommodation. *thumbs up*
State:
- Your arrival date and time
- where you are arriving from (Train or plane or bus)
- any special requirements (eg. late night, help in luggage storage upon check in/ out)
- recommendations of food/ attractions since they are the natives! ;)
Of course, always check out their reviews prior to booking!
3) Transportation & Attractions - Usually people would have separated these into 2 components but I've lumped it together as we have got some savings from buying some Travel/ tourist passes and these are issued for tourists like us which allows free admission to attractions while allowing unlimited travel on their public transport.
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| Credits to KnowingRome.com |
Eg. Rome Pass, Swiss Pass, Venice Tourist Card
More on this during my trip! :)
Tips: Some websites/ travel agencies actually allows you to purchase tickets/ passes (Eg. Disneyland tickets) at a cheaper rate while you just have to pop by their outlet/ bus station to collect before proceeding to the venue. However, do ensure proper planning to make sure you've planned in on your way/ schedule so you don't have to spent more on transport just to get the tickets keeping in mind, the risk of getting lost etc - might not be worth it at the end of the day.
4) Food - Was contemplating to put this as one of the component cause it really depends on individual but I guess I can just jot it down for reference.
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| Credits to Tripadvisor |
Done most of my food research based on reviews on Tripadvisor basically from travelers' rating of the restaurants and eateries.
With that, I've made a lot of bookmarks on the places to go costing about EUR5-10 per meal.
I've budgeted about S$30 per pax per day, should be sufficient since we will be sharing some of the meals (to try more stuff!)
Tips: For the budget conscious, might want to pack some instant noodles to go.
Prepared 6 cup noodles in our luggage together with our old kettle (which we are planning to use and throw away there cause we heard stories about how you don't know what hotel/ hostel kettles are used to boiling -_- ) just in case we can't find any decent food or had enough of all the carb-loaded food (Bread, Sandwiches, Pasta, Pizza).
Seriously think I'm gonna pack on the pounds. Darn!
To be Continued...
